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Saturday, May 28, 2016

I just finished reading Inside the O'Briens this week and although I generally did not enjoy this book, I did learn a lot about Huntington's Disease and how families are affected by it. It was thought provoking which inspired me to write this post.

When Joe, a Boston cop with a loving wife and four grown children, (some of whom still live at home), suffers from lack of balance, slurred speech, angry outbursts, random jumping and fidgeting and not even being aware he is doing it, he tries his best to keep his job and get a decent pension to provide for his wife after he is gone. Unfortunately, he has to quit early and will only get about 1/3 of his pension. He finds out from a lawyer that unless he divorces Rosie, she won't get anything because it will all go to pay for the assisted living place he most likely will end up in like his mother did.

I must say, I agree with Joe's thinking when he considered killing himself. Here is an excerpt from page 268 that really rings true to me (Yaz was Joe's little dog that died recently):

Joe thinks of Yaz. He lived a good, full life. And then, when his quality of life drained away, they didn't make him suffer. Yaz's end was peaceful and dignified, fast and painless. Five seconds after the vet's injection, he was gone.

It was the humane thing to do. Joe takes note of the word human in humane, and yet that kind of "human" compassion is reserved only for animals, not for people. There is no five-second injection option for Joe. Doctors aren't allowed to be humane with humans. Joe and everyone like him will be expected to suffer and suck it up, to endure zero quality of life while being a burden to everyone held dear until the bitter, gruesome end.

We all hope we never get to the place where we can't take care of ourselves, but many do. I just think it would be nice to have the option of a lethal injection to speed up the inevitable and spare all the pain and suffering.

In the book, Joe did not commit suicide. His daughter, Katie, changed his mind with the following words from page 273:

We don't know anyone else with HD. You're the only example we have. We're going to learn how to live and die with HD from you, Dad. . . . . We don't know what's right and wrong when it comes to HD. But whatever you do, that's the advice you're giving us.

Sunday, May 15, 2016

Today Manny Boy is 11 as we celebrate Manny's Happy Gotcha Day! We got him from a friend who could no longer keep him when he was 3 (thanks, Kim). Here is a short video of when we first got him. It's hard to believe it's the same cat, but I just knew he'd come around. You really need to watch both videos to get see the transformation. He let me pet him real nice when I went to meet him in his home but his first mom giving him away and being relocated was quite hard on him. (Turn up your volume to hear Manny)

Friday, May 6, 2016

1) A man in the Netherlands built this replica of Noah's Ark which was on display there for several years and actually plans to sail it around the world and use it to tell stories of God's love. I would love to go into it. (See video on previous post.)

2) Unfortunately our doctor passed away. We've had him so long, I forgot how I even found him in the first place. I liked him because he was funny and also, thanks to his quick action, got me to a surgeon who was able to remove my breast cancer back in 2009. It's not so easy finding a doctor but after several calls I finally got one!

3) When I went in our basement, I noticed a piece of the interlocking molding in the corner fell down. I tried to snap it back into place, so far, so good.

4) After trying to add Tracfone minutes using the phone several times without success (kept getting message that I should "try again later"), I went to the website and only needing the PIN for adding the minutes and the telephone number, had success after just one try!

5) I didn't know adult coloring existed until I saw this post on Facebook:

6) My bus is off schedule coming home - have to wait almost an hour for it going home. It's very frustrating! I wonder if I just miss one and if I left a few minutes earlier I'd make that. Bus driver said traffic is all backed up because a main street is down to just one lane. Who knows how long that will be?

7) I was surprised to hear on the news this morning that Lyft is planning to test drive the first driverless taxi within the year! Wow, this reminds me of a book I recently read about five teens being transported 30 years into the future in Future Shock by Elizabeth Briggs.

I'd love to hear about things you learned this week and which of these are most interesting to you!

Monday, May 2, 2016

I saw this posted on Facebook yesterday and thought it was so cool I wanted to share it here on my blog. Johan in the Neterlands built it some time ago and had it on display there for three years, but now plans to sail it to Brazil this summer. He plans to use it to tell Bible stories about God's love. I think it would be fun to go on this! He built it according to the measurements God gave to Noah. You can read the account of Noah's Ark in Genesis 6-9. I was surprised at some of the mean comments this video has received on YouTube from non-believers who obviously do not believe the Bible or that God loves them. I found this very sad. What do you think about this? (Be respectful now.)